GWCT News Blog

Jim Egan previews a series of events being delivered by the Campaign for the Farmed Environment that  will focus on pollinators and their benefits to farm businesses.

This week, insects are in the spotlight as we celebrate National Insect Week. Grey partridge chicks may not be celebrating, though. Their survival depends on chick-food insect availability around ground level and we fear that our late, wet spring means that insect numbers are low for many areas of the country.

Dr. Niamh McHugh introduces our new project looking at barn swallow foraging on arable land in relation to agri-environment scheme habitat options.

The significant implications of the EU referendum for sovereignty, free trade and the movement of people are all being loudly debated. Farming and environmental issues have been less prominent, but the outcome of this referendum will have real implications for them too.

This year for the first time there will be a number of English game fairs rather than one, so there has been a certain anticipation surrounding the first – the Field & Country Fair held at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire on 10-12 June. I’m delighted that in terms of new member recruitment and profile raising for the GWCT, the show was a great success.

Lizzie Grayshon reports from the Avon Valley, where we are now seeing our first broods of lapwing chicks fledging.

Some moorland managers are reporting a significant fall in vole numbers. In some cases, they are suggesting a complete absence of voles – what is going on?

Find out more about PACDOG, a company who design, manufacture and supply equipment which addresses the problems of conventional dog training.

Debate around trophy hunting has continued for some time, but earlier this year a group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) called for a complete ban on the import of trophies into the EU. In response, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published a briefing paper, which aims to inform discussions on the ban and other related topics.

Find out more about this relatively new British gunmaker, founded by former managing directors of Holland & Holland and Sterling Armaments.